


can’t erase what I wrote in ink (tell me how can I change the story)

by LittleMissAgrafina



Series: Dear Peter Parker, What To Say To You [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternating Points of View, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Endgame fix it, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Feels, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Irondad, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, POV Alternating, Peter is a handful, Platonic Soulmates, Stuff happens but they get there, There are a lot more characters that are mentioned, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, all the feels, but we love him, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25229761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissAgrafina/pseuds/LittleMissAgrafina
Summary: Tony Stark grew up hearing tales and stories of the different forms of soulbonds that existed.He had to watch as the other children at school found out what bonds they had. Hear them brag, and boast about their bond type or their soulmate.Tony waited for the chance to speak about his own bond but it never came. He spent years hoping and longing for it to appear.He waited, and hoped, and prayed.Until he couldn't anymore.OrAn irondad platonic soulmate au (that is simultaneously an endgame fix it fic) for the friendly neighbourhood fic exchange.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Dear Peter Parker, What To Say To You [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934728
Comments: 62
Kudos: 728
Collections: The Friendly Neighborhood Exchange





	can’t erase what I wrote in ink (tell me how can I change the story)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [imalivebecauseirondad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/imalivebecauseirondad/gifts).
  * Inspired by [did you see the flares in the sky?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24298969) by [justt_ppeachy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justt_ppeachy/pseuds/justt_ppeachy). 



> This has honestly been so much fun to write.  
> I remember when I started this I thought it would be 4k, 5k words at the most. All I have to say is "Started from the bottom now we're here."
> 
> I never could have believed that I would be able to write this much, nevermind write at all, so I want to give an absolutely massive shoutout to my darling @scooter3scooter. I wouldn't have been able to even a fraction of this without here love and encouragement. The title is thanks to her too!
> 
> I can't leave out @addi either! She betad for me and it means so much! Her thoughts and suggestions were such a life saver.
> 
> Thank you so much you guys!
> 
> And of course a massive thank you to imalivebecauseirondad as well! Without their prompts this wouldn't exist. I'm so honoured to have been able to write this for you and I hope you like it!
> 
> Now, after my mile long an, welcome to the story!

  
  
  


Tony Stark grew up hearing tales and stories of the different forms of soulbonds that existed.

  
  


He grew up hoping and praying to have a soulmate that he could communicate with somehow, that he would have a bond that let you feel and 'speak' through the emotions that could be sent through an empathy bond.

Or he hoped for a telepathy bond that let you speak to your mate with just a single thought. 

His favourite was the bond that shared what you wrote on your own arm to your soulmate's own arm.

  
  


Some soulbonds even allowed for more than one connection and bond. The only true constant for a bond was that they were platonic, familial only. There were legends which said that there were once romantic bonds as well but, even if they did once exist, they had long since faded.

  
  


Most of the world agreed it was a good thing those bonds weren't around anymore, the many whispers wars and battles fought because of forced love only solidifying the opinion. The reality of a platonic bond was more than enough for everyone, there was no need to complicate it with that of a romantic one as well.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


The years passed without a single hint to what bond he would have. He had to watch as the other children at school found out what bonds they had. Hear them brag, and boast about their bond type or their soulmate. He had to watch them and hear them talk and gush about a feeling their mate sent, a message they wrote, or something they said.

  
  
  


He grew and was shunned more and more when he never received a bond.

  
  


He would take being colourblind, have some flowery mark, or even the big, cumbersome wings that some mates had.

He would take any bond over the bullying, dirty looks, and bondless slurs muttered at him.

  
  


He just wanted to have someone who knew him, who was a part of him. He wanted the connection and bond that he was surrounded by but couldn't have himself.

  
  


He waited, and hoped, and prayed.

  
  


Until he couldn't anymore.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Tony spent his life watching other people find their soulmates, their bonds, while he stayed alone and without even a hint at a mate. So he stopped caring. Or rather, he tried to stop caring. 

  
  


He threw himself into trying to impress and be loved by his parents, by Jarvis. When his projects and inventions were discarded and destroyed, he made more.

  
  


When his tests returned with an A+, they weren't hung on the fridge proudly. They were tossed carelessly in the trash.

  
  


When his fingers ached and cramped from playing the piano or tinkering into the early hours of the morning, he was told to man up and be tough because _Stark men are made of iron._

  
  


He was told to do more when he made his first AI.

  
  


He was told to do more when he could play Beethoven, Bach, and Tchaikovsky by memory.

  
  


He was told to do more when he got into college at 15.

  
  


He was told to do more when he graduated with the highest scores that MIT had ever seen.

  
  


He was told to do more when he designed his first weapon.

  
  


The words echoed in his mind.

  
  


More, more, more.

  
  


Always more. 

But he couldn't be more. Could only be him, but that wasn't enough so he did it anyway.

  
  


He became more.

  
  


But he destroyed himself in the process.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Tony stared down in disbelief at the childish handwriting scrawled over his left forearm.

  
  


'Helo' it said. The letters mismatched, bumpy, and haphazard. They were beautiful.

  
  


The sparkly blue letters faded away and he felt panic seizing his throat. 

Suddenly the blocky script returned and what it said left his throat squeezing for an entirely different reason.

  
  


'I luv yoo'

  
  


Tony looked up and his eyes caught on the massive metal suit strung up next to the cave wall. He felt true hope and determination for the first time in so many years.

  
  


He was getting out of here if it was the last thing he did.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Tony was at war with his mind.

  
  


At moments he found himself thinking, _This can't be happening. Why now? Why do I have to leave my mate before I have even met them?_

  
  


He didn't want to leave them, to leave Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy; but at the same time he ached to leave, to just not have care and finally stop having to _do more._

  
  


He still did more though. He didn't do it that well but he did _something._

  
  


He made Pepper an omelette, and got drunk in his suit at his birthday party. He and Rhodey fought and he lost a suit. 

  
  


He wrote to his mate. He found out that they were ten years old.

  
  


He hired that hot, but decidedly dangerous looking, redhead that gave even Happy a run for his money in the ring.

  
  


His mate liked science and was very clever if the equations and problems that sometimes appeared on his skin was anything to go by.

  
  


He did more. He sat in a giant doughnut and was called on by some leather wearing, entirely too serious, eyepatch guy. He found out that the dangerous looking redhead really was dangerous. 

  
  


His mate likes Thai food. 

  
  


He was babysat by someone whose first name was Agent. He created an element, he saved his own life like so many times before.

  
  


He didn't have to taste coconut anymore.

  
  


And then it all went to even more crap. Vanko and Hammer happened. The drones took over the Expo and he saved a stupidly brave kid in a toy Iron Man helmet.

  
  


There was something nagging at him in the back of his mind at that but he brushed it off and skyrocketed after another drone.

  
  


He and Rhodey saved the day and he thought he did okay. Pepper disagreed but she kissed him anyway.

  
  


He took it as a win.

  
  


(His mate likes fireworks.)

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Tony was bored to death but his mate kept writing puns to him. Every time that he couldn't hold a scoff or chuckle at what the kid came up with, he received a dirty look from the numerous people around the table in the SHIELD helicarrier.

Sue him, the puns were funny.

  
  


He would take this over listening to the rest of Fury's super secret boy band yap over each other any day.

  
  


But he did have to be serious in the end. New York, maybe even the world, depended on it.

  
  


And hey, if he was thinking of puns and jokes to write back with as he fought those creepy alien things, then no one needed to know.

  
  


He would later wonder if there was a reason that he hadn't told the team, but something was stopping him from letting something so close to him fall open like that. After all, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy were the only ones who knew that he had found his mate. Or rather that he had recognized their bond.

  
  


He was happy to keep it that way for now.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


The next few years passed much the same as the previous. In other words they were taken up by his reckless side job as a superhero and his own problems with PTSD, which honestly offended him because he already had issues from Afghanistan but now he had it from his own home turf as well? 

  
  


It was rude, if you asked him. But no one ever did.

  
  


He still dove right back in. He went through the Mandarin and helped Pepper with Extremis.

  
  


He had panic attacks because of kids in Tennessee. He never got his tuna sandwich.

  
  


He did a lot, especially talk with his mate.

He learned that they were 12 now.

They were top of their class and were excited about their classes at a STEM school in Midtown.

  
  


He wished that they could share more personal information so that he could find the kid but the bond always restricted you from finding out information that would set you up to meet your soulmate before you were supposed to.

  
  


He thought it was bullshit, but he would have patience. He could feel that it wouldn't be long now, two or three years at most, so he would wait. Odin knows he had waited before, this was nothing to the time he had already passed without them.

  
  


He would wait.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Tony woke up with a smile. He could feel the excitement overflowing from the bond and he had a hunch that his mate was bouncing around from the energy that he felt surging with the excitement.

  
  


The kid had been so excited over the last week, writing to Tony and rambling to him about the field trip his class had won to a pretty high profile science company.

  
  


Tony was happy for him, he could tell that his mate didn't get that many chances to do things like this field trip because of money problems. He promised (to himself, he knew the kid wouldn't accept it easily) that he would take any chances he had to let his mate do all of the things that he had missed out on, and that he would do it with him. He wanted to break the cycle of shame that his father Howard had started with him.

  
  


He would do anything to be there for the kid even if he thought that the mini genius deserved so much better than him.

  
  


Tony smiled and looked down at the increasingly messy words that graced his skin. He hoped the kid had fun.

  
  
  
  


-

  
  
  
  


It had been a few hours since Tony had read a single word from the kid and he was getting worried. Usually there were a lot of scribbles and random thoughts in addition to the conversation between the two of them, so this silence was not only worrying but disconcerting for the man. 

  
  


Over the last years since Afghanistan he had become so accustomed to seeing writing on his arm and took comfort in the way that the kid formed and wrote his sentences. Who would have guessed that something as simple as the way that a person wrote could be comforting?

  
  


The blank skin staring up at him had panic rising in his throat. He suddenly realised that he had dampened the connection between them so that he could concentrate on the meetings that Pepper had forced him to today. He opened the bond and was hit with a tidal wave of fear, confusion, and pain; the strength of it almost sending him to his knees as it spread through the bond.

  
  


He didn't realise that his breath had started coming and short gasps, his fingers twisting as he gripped his coffee cup so hard that it shattered.

  
  


He didn't realise until he was being brought back to reality by a steady voice and a firm hand tapping out Morse code on his back. He looked up to find Pepper kneeling in front of him, her hands gripping onto his as she glanced to the person that the hand over his back belonged to. Rhodey.

  
  


He felt another surge of pain from the bond and his body trembled. What the fuck was happening?

  
  


He felt his arm burn and glanced down at the words that he'd never noticed appear as they dulled.

  
  


'close the bond i dont want to hurt you' It said in almost unintelligible writing. The words dulled even more, now looking as if they were clouded slightly.

  
  


"No. No, no, no!" Tony cried out, voice breaking from the terror he felt. He felt the world around him dim and just as he fell to meet the floor his eyes caught onto the equally terrified faces of Pepper and Rhodey.

  
  


His arm burned again, but the call of blissful unconsciousness was too strong.

  
  


He let himself fall, the last thought on his mind sending a prayer to anyone listening that his mate survived.

  
  
  
  


-

  
  
  
  


Tony woke to dim lights and a softness surrounding him. He looked around and found that he was lying in his penthouse bedroom. He felt confusion before the memories hit, a shiver going down his spine at the memory of everything that the kid was feeling. 

  
  


Realising that he couldn't feel anything from their connection he cautiously inched it back open, feeling his body relax some when he wasn't attacked by the same tidal wave of pain and emotion as he had the last time he opened it.

Opening it completely, he searched for the kid’s own connection and was swarmed with relief when he found the connection at peace, no signs of distress or pain marring the calm bond.

  
  


Reassured that his mate was okay, Tony closed the bond, keeping a small part open so he could actively feel how the other was.

  
  


He came back to himself and noticed Pepper sitting next to him on the bed, Rhodey perched on a chair next to Tony as well. They smiled when they saw that he was present again.

  
  


"What happened?" Tony asked, his voice hoarse from disuse. _How long had he been asleep?_

  
  


"You had a bond surge and passed out. You were asleep for 4 days, Tones." Rhodey answered him.

Huh, he must have said the last part out loud then.

  
  


"How is he?" Pepper spoke up, now. "What happened?" She questioned him, and he could only shrug in response.

  
  


"I don't know." Tony shook his head helplessly. "It came out of nowhere. I mean, I had closed the connection earlier because his excitement was too distracting in our meetings. I got worried when he hadn't written anything for a while. No notes, doodles, nothing." He felt the words getting stuck and Rhodey rested a hand on Tony's, grounding him with the touch.

  
  


Tony took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax before continuing. "I opened the connection back up but the feelings flowing through triggered a surge." He looked at his hands before bringing his eyes up again. 

  
  


In a weak voice that Pepper and Rhodey hadn't heard before, he spoke again. "There was so much pain. He was so scared, confused, hurt. And there wasn't anything I could do."

  
  


Pepper didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around Tony, trying to comfort him as much as she could. "You said 'was'. Is he okay now?" 

  
  


Tony nodded, subconsciously leaning into her embrace as he re-checked the connection, looking for any signs of pain or distress. Finding none again, he let the last bit of tension release from his shoulders. "He's fine. I can't feel anything wrong. Can it just be okay? There was so much and now it's just quiet."

  
  


"It can, actually," Rhodey answered. "Bond surges are pretty sudden and violent but they don't tend to linger. Even so, you would be able to feel if there was something big that was still wrong and you said there wasn't anything, so that's good right?"

  
  


"Yeah, I guess so. You also said I was out for a few days so there might be that too." Tony nodded, mind elsewhere.

  
  


The kid was fine, right? He had to be for the bond to have calmed again.

  
  


So why did Tony feel as if something big had changed?

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


There was blood on Peter's hands.

  
  


It dripped from his fingers and stained the creases on the palm of his hand long after he had scrubbed it off.

  
  


He saw Ben lying there on the ground, tarmac wet underneath him. A sickening red halo spreading around him with Peter helpless to stop it.

  
  


It spread. It spread, and spread, and spread.

Peter was haunted by the piercing gunshot, the sound echoing through his brain and overwhelming him.

  
  


He heard it as he washed the crusted life substance from his skin, watching the shower floor turn pink and never seeing it run clear again.

  
  


The _thud_ as his uncle hit the ground growing louder and louder, only for the nauseating stillness of Ben's heart beating its last under Peter's hand to silence the thud of body on tar.

  
  


And then it started again.

  
  


He tried to comfort May. 

  
  


It started again.

  
  


He got up after not sleeping for another night.

  
  


It started again.

  
  


He sat alone in his room as May worked and worked to keep them afloat.

  
  


It started again.

  
  


He couldn't save Ben, maybe he can save others.

  
  


It started again.

  
  


He jumped from a building.

  
  


It started again.

  
  


He stopped busses, rescued cats, and designed a suit and webs.

  
  


It started again.

  
  
  
  


-

  
  
  
  


_I don't know what to do,_ Peter thought.

  
  


_It's so much, why is everything so much?_

_I miss you, Ben. You would have known what to do._

  
  


Peter didn't have anyone else. Okay, that was wrong, he had May, and Ned, and that weird but interesting feeling girl that sat just away from them during lunch. 

  
  


He had his soulmate too, but they hadn't become part of Peter's life willingly, they had been forced because of the bond, he couldn't put this on them.

  
  


He had them, but he still felt alone. And he hated it.

  
  


But maybe he could just see what they were up to. He knew they were smart, like, really insanely smart so there might be a chance they could just talk? 

  
  


He took a breath and picked up a pen, trying to ignore the red that still flashed as he let the pen hover over his arm.

  
  


_Hi, can you explain this to me?_

He asked, before scribbling a random physics equation that he had found in his stray workbook before he could doubt himself.

  
  


A lot faster than he expected, he felt the telltale tingling of his mate writing back.

  
  


_Sure, Kid._ Was displayed over his arm with, _So_ _this is used to calculate…_ following closely behind.

  
  


He drifted slightly and felt calm for the first time since that echoing shot rang out in the street.

  
  


Maybe he wasn't as alone as he thought.

  
  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Tony Stark's soulmate is Peter Parker. The genius, kind hearted, labrador puppy personified teenager was the same person who had been writing to him for years.

  
  


Peter Parker is Spider-Man. His mate is a reckless hero just like him. Oh, the irony.

  
  


Peter Parker is also the same teen that he had brushed off after coming home from Germany and Siberia because he couldn't handle the immediate trust and faith that the kid had in him.

  
  


The kid was his mate and he didn't know what to do or how to deal with it.

So he didn't.

  
  


He pawned him off onto Happy and had the man take charge on keeping in contact even when Tony kept a copy of everything that Peter said and reported in a secure folder hidden in FRIDAY's code.

  
  


He brushed off the questions the kid asked after him and then brushed him off when he wrote to him as well.

And dammit, did that hurt.

  
  


The kid deserved better than a guy in a metal suit who would only put him in danger. _Nevermind that, he is already in danger because of his chosen extracurricular,_ the traitorous voice in the back of his head piped up.

  
  


Maybe this way the kid would stay safe and stick to ‘helping the little guy’ as he put it.

  
  


Oh, how wrong he was.

  
  
  
  


-

  
  
  
  


A couple disobeyed protocols, alien tech, FBI phone calls, a ferry, plane, more alien tech later, as well as an injured Spider on his hands later, Tony could admit that he had done things wrong.

  
  


In his desperate bid to keep Peter safe, he had pushed him away and almost lost him anyway.

  
  


He wouldn't let himself make the same mistake again, so he decided to man up and be the adult.

  
  


He sat with Peter after he was checked over by Helen and whatever stitches and bandages that were needed were applied. He let himself fall open and came out with his fears and insecurities, and Peter did too; the bond laid open between them only adding to their honesty and communication.

  
  


He apologised and told Peter that he had been trying to protect him even though he went about it entirely wrong.

And the kid forgave him.

  
  


They spoke and talked through what had to happen from then on. They went over telling May and giving him his suit back.

They went over rules and covers to keep Peter's identity a secret.

  
  


Tony made Peter an official intern under him (take that, Flash!) and, after telling May the truth about his night time vigilantism, they worked in the labs a couple days a week as well as having movie nights, sleep overs, and dinners together with Pepper and May.

  
  


Tony was happy. He found his mate in an idiot genius of a kid and he wouldn't have it any other way.

He was content.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  


Tony had hoped and prayed that this wouldn't happen, that this nightmare in front of him wouldn't be true, but it was.

  
  


It was real and it was right in front of him. _He_ was right in front of him. _Crumbling._

  
  


He had felt the burning before it had even started. It spread through his arm from his forearm, blazing up through his shoulders and centering in his heart.

  
  


He turned to the one thing that he thought might last, might be the one constant, and he felt as if he was the one slowly disintegrating as well.

  
  


The kid, _his_ kid, was stumbling towards him with terror filled eyes and a fracturing bond.

Tony caught Peter in his arms as he stumbled, both of them collapsing to their knees.

  
  


Their eyes locked and something stilled between them. 

  
  


Taking a shuddering breath, Tony brought his hand up and rested it on the back of Peter's neck as their foreheads pressed together.

  
  


Slowly they let their connection fall open completely for the second time since that night that they spoke in the medbay.

  
  


Neither could stop the tears from falling as they surrendered to the awareness and understanding that could only come from their bond.

  
  


"I love you, Peter. So much." Tony's voice cracked as he choked the words past the lump in his throat, his heart breaking when he heard and felt Peter holding back the sob that almost escaped him.

  
  


Peter looked at Tony with fear swimming in his eyes. He brushed it aside as he pushed every feeling of love and affection he could into their open connection.

  
  


He could feel their time slipping through their fingers like the ash he was quickly becoming.

  
  


Trembling, he leant into Tony and gave up on trying to control his tears. "I love you too." He sobbed, breath hitching as he tightened his grip on Tony as much as he dared. 

  
  


It was no use because no matter how hard he tried, no matter how hard he fought, he still lost. He was leaving behind a part of him that he never wanted to let go.

  
  


With terror and sadness Tony could only watch and feel as his soulmate turned to dust before his eyes. The firm warmth disappears from his arms.

  
  


He looked down at his ash covered hands, dazed and confused. Then it hit.

He burned and broke. He felt as if something vital had been ripped from him, then realised that something had.

  
  


In the still open bond he searched and searched for some remnant, some sliver of the bright person that he had become so accustomed to feeling, and he found nothing.

  
  


Blank emptiness was the only greeting.

  
  


He shattered.

  
  


He screamed and screamed until his voice became hoarse. He screamed and cried his loss, his pain, his grief.

  
  


He lost his other half and child and he didn't know how to come back.

  
  


The loneliness consumed him.

  
  
  
  


-

  
  
  
  


Tony spent the next 23 days drifting through space. His only company was a stoic, blue cyborg lady who eventually told him that her name was Nebula.

  
  


The company of another being did nothing to alleviate the pain and utter grief that consumed him. Add in the overwhelming loneliness from his and Pet- _the_ _kid's_ bond breaking and you had a delicious cocktail of screwed up emotions.

  
  


Tony hated how his loss flooded not only his every waking moment but haunted his sleep too. When he did sleep that is.

  
  


It seeped into every crack, every crevice of his being and it _ached._ Oh how it ached.

  
  


Tony would catch himself glancing down at his blank, unblemished forearm hoping for the messy scrawl to appear again. 

  
  


He did the same with the connection as well, finding himself leaning into only to be slammed with a cold wall of nothing. The still, lifelessness of it haunting him and sending a chill to his core long after he closed it as much as he could.

  
  


When Nebula had told him about the quickly dwindling oxygen only days after the food ran out, he was relieved. It disgusted him that he would welcome death so easily… but what did he have left? He had Pepper and Rhodey, Happy too, but he could only hope that was true. He was tired of being hopeful.

  
  


Tony recorded a message for Pepper and shut the Iron Man helmet off one last time. He sat down in one of the chairs in the cockpit and stared out into the twinkling nothing, a vague traitorous thought crossing his mind. 

  
  


_'Peter loved the stars.'_

  
  


For the first time since he held his kid in his arms, grasping at straws for him to stay, Tony Stark cried. He sat silently, tears carving silvery tracks down his face as his frail shoulders shook.

  
  


Sparing one last glance at the endless colour and shine from the window, he closed his eyes and let himself fall.

  
  


He never saw the yellow gold glow streaking ever closer.

He was rescued, but not truly, a part of him left behind on the death ridden planet Titan.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Waking up was a disappointment.

Waking up returned his mind, his feelings, robbing him of the momentary relief from his nonexistent soulmate bond.

  
  


He hated it, and it only became worse when the group of rogues, or rather what was left of them, decided it was time to grill him about Thanos.

  
  


He was forced to sit and endure what felt like endless questions and judgement. 

  
  


"What did Thanos say?"

  
  


"Did he give _any_ indication of where he was going?"

  
  


Tony scoffed, rolling his eyes despite the ache and nausea the action caused. "No, he threw a fucking moon at me and stepped through a portal. Did you think he was gonna stop and give holiday destinations?" He snapped at them and felt satisfied at the annoyed looks he received.

  
  


"He wiped out fifty percent of the Universe, Stark, stop the self pity."

  
  


"Can you at least try and be serious?"

  
  


"You may not have lost anyone but we have!"

  
  


That was what did it. Tony vaguely registered sharp intakes and protests from where Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy were standing behind him but he ignored it. 

  
  


He looked up at everyone gathered across from him in front of the holographic table. "What did you just say?" He asked with feigned nonchalance.

  
  


Steve Rogers squared his shoulders before repeating himself. "I said, you haven't lost anyone. You still have everything."

  
  


Standing from his wheelchair despite the protests behind him, ignoring the dark spots dancing across his vision, he slammed his hands onto the glass top of the holo table. "You know _nothing_ about me! You could never know what I have lost!"

  
  


Steve's face darkened. "Who? Who have you lost!? Everyone willing to put up with you is standing there behind you!"

  
  


"So I will repeat myself. You. Have. _Everything._ You don't know loss." Steve spat at him. 

  
  


The pain, grief, and anger in Tony's voice as he spoke next was enough to shake everyone to their cores. "You say that I still have everything but I don't." His voice quivered, but it was unclear if it was in anger or sadness.

Tony choked out a bitter laugh, lifting a shaking hand to scrub over his face. The darkness growing in his sight. "I _lost_ my everything. I found my soulmate, and I hid him from everyone and everything. I found him. He was my kid, he was everything and more, but I lost him because I wasn't good enough. Don't for one second act like I don't know loss!" By the end, his voice had risen from a deadly whisper until he was screaming.

  
  


"You know nothing of pain until you have to lose your kid as well as your soulmate." His voice dropped to a broken whisper that chilled the cores of everyone in the room.

  
  


"Nothing." He muttered to himself as the adrenaline from his anger caught up to him, forcing him to his knees as his vision swam.

  
  


The last thing he saw was the horrified faces spread through the room before darkness greeted him once again.

  
  
  
  


-

  
  
  
  


"I never wanted them to find out." Tony admitted quietly to Rhodey after they had convinced Pepper to rest in a proper bed on her and Tony's floor at the compound. His thoughts almost strayed to Peter's room on their floor, a room that wouldn't be used again, but he slammed a lid on it in an attempt to stave off the pain and grief he felt constantly.

  
  


It didn't work.

  
  


Rhodey breathed softly next to him and shifted to take Tony's trembling hand in his, the after effects of malnutrition, his adrenaline from the confrontation, and his grief.

  
  


"I know." He answered just as quietly.

  
  


He watched the pain his friend, his _brother_ , was going through and he didn't know what to do. He had seen and helped Tony through loss and death before with his parents and Jarvis, but this was different. This was losing a child, a soulmate, and he felt helpless.

He didn't know how to ease Tony's agony and grief, how to comfort him.

  
  


But he did what he could.

  
  


When Tony's mask finally started crumbling as he let out a broken whimper, Rhodey did the only thing he could think of.

  
  


He hugged him. He stood up, braces whirring, and perched himself next to his broken brother. He held him and he didn't let go. 

  
  


He didn't let go when Happy came to check in on Tony and took the chair that Rhodey had abandoned. 

  
  


He didn't let go when Pepper came back looking just as tired and worn out as when she left.

  
  


He didn't let go when Happy slid his chair closer to the bed, grasping Tony's hand, and he didn't let go when Pepper climbed up on Tony's other side to join him in holding Tony.

  
  


The night went and even when Tony shook from nightmares and memories they didn't let go.

  
  


They held him tightly, trying to help him in what little way they could.

Trying to to help through the unimaginable.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Looking out over the moonlit forest and lake, Tony walked down the porch steps towards the dock. He sat down and let his legs dangle over the edge, the tips of his toes brushing the cool water and sending silver ripples across the surface.

  
  


He let the sounds of chirping crickets and small woodland creatures wash over him, a cold breeze ruffling his hair and bringing the fresh smell of autumn.

  
  


Glancing back at the house behind him, he spotted Pepper moving around the living room, the glow from the fireplace setting her hair ablaze. His eyes shifted to the dark window of Morgan's room and he let out a small chuckle at the memory of her mimicking his curse earlier that night.

  
  


Before he could stop himself, he had opened the nonexistent bond that still lingered in the back of his mind. The cold emptiness hadn't faded over the last five years, and had felt like it had increased at times, but he now had a small hope that it wouldn't be cold forever.

  
  


He didn't want to set himself up with that spark of hope only for it to fall dead again like so many times before. He found himself hopeful anyway, and it felt different. He couldn't place it but there was a surety he felt when FRIDAY had informed him of the model rendering successfully and it hadn't faded yet.

  
  
  


He looked up to stars, the memories staining and tinting their beauty, and smiled.

  
  


"I'm coming, Peter."

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Tony was scared, he wasn't afraid to admit it. He was scared that this wouldn't work, that their hours of organizing, planning, and arguments would be for nothing, that he wouldn't be good enough to bring Peter home. To bring _everyone_ home. 

  
  


He didn't like the fear so he deflected with nicknames, sarcasm, and annoyance. Yeah, it bugged the others but this was too personal and important for him to care. He knew that Natasha and Rhodey were keeping the heat from everyone else away from him and he was incredibly grateful for it. For them.

  
  


Rhodey was his brother, Tony knew they had each other's backs. It was Nat and Steve that surprised him. With their history and everything they had been through they were still helping him. Even after mending bridges, there was still an irreparable rift, divide, between them. He supposed that they had a lot riding on this, everyone did, so this wasn't a time for old rivalries. 

  
  


So they worked. They went without sleep, they argued, they brainstormed. The end product sitting before them, a gleaming red offset with the colours of the infinity stones, made it worth everything they had to do. 

  
  


There was hope.

  
  


There was a lot of debate over who would snap, Thor and Natasha being the most forceful to be the ones until Bruce said that he was the most likely to withstand the radiation because of Hulk.

  
  


They watched with bated breath as he slid his arm into the gauntlet, multiple protests ringing through the air at the pain it put on Bruce but he brushed them aside.

  
  


Taking a breath, he brought his fingers together… and snapped.

  
  
  
  


-

  
  
  
  


The first thing that registered to Tony's mind was that he felt a warm, tingling buzz in the back of his mind that took him too long to recognize simply from the shock of feeling it after so many years of cold and blank.

  
  


"Peter!" He murmured to himself breathlessly, feeling like some vital part of him had finally been put back together almost like a puzzle when you fit that last piece in its place.

  
  


And then the world gave way to fire with a deafening explosion, concrete and metal raining down over all of them.

  
  


From then everything was a blur of destruction and fighting, metal clanging, alien roars, and blasts from numerous different weapons.

  
  


There was Thanos, sitting eerily still in the middle of the chaos before they confronted him, Thor and his lightning that gave him a makeover (a frankly stylish one in Tony's opinion), Steve wielding fucking _Mjolnir,_ and then the portals started opening. What seemed like hundreds of glowing circles appearing one after the other as their once fallen comrades joined them.

  
  


He darted his eyes around trying to catch a glance of the familiar red and blue suit but couldn't find him in the mass of fighters. Asking FRIDAY to alert him of Peter's whereabouts when they got close he turned his attention to the enemy waiting in front of them.

  
  


Steve's voice rang out clearly. "Avengers…"

  
  


"Assemble!"

  
  


They charged.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


When Tony heard Peter's voice after the tell tale thwip of webs pulling an alien away from behind his back, he almost cried. 

  
  


"Hey! Holy cow! You will not believe what's been going on. Okay, maybe you will, you're in the middle of this too." He rambled.

  
  


"I just remember getting all dusty and like, freaking out cuz I didn't wanna leave you and then I woke up and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there right. And he said 'It's been five years. Come on, they need us.' And he started doing the yellow sparkly thing that he does. Anyway–" Tony cut him off as he pulled him into a hug. He pulled his kid tighter into his arms, pressing a kiss against his head as he opened their connection as wide as he could.

  
  


Peter leaned into him and did the same. The moment that their bond opened and they just held each other, Tony felt the last bit of cold, emptiness leave him.

  
  


Smiling he pressed another kiss to Peter's curls before reluctantly pulling away.

  
  


He had his kid back.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Peter ran, dodging debris and enemy fire as he did. The clangs of metal, explosions, and screams assaulting his senses. He would have been hit long before now if he hadn't been listening to his spidey sense, or the Peter Tingle, as May _loved_ to call it. He hoped she was okay and safe wherever she was.

  
  


Feeling a particularly loud buzz from his sense, he found himself frantically searching for Tony. Not being able to spot him in the chaos he resorted to feeling through their bond if he was near.

  
  


He jumped out of the way of another alien and sped off towards where he felt Tony.

  
  


As he neared a part of the ruined compound that descended downwards, he took a bit of shelter behind a mangled wall of concrete as he scanned the area for the familiar red and gold suit. He finally found it and felt his entire being freeze.

  
  


Tony was kneeling where he had been shoved, a smirking Thanos trying to snap an empty gauntlet. Peter saw the second that the stones started transferring to Tony's own armoured hand. He let out a scream and shot a web across at another crumpled wall near the other ascending part of the battlefield and launched himself towards Tony.

  
  


Peter reached him just as he was curling his fingers to snap. Slamming to his knees next to his mentor, he yanked at the shining gauntlet and curled his own fingers around Tony's wrist just as he snapped.

  
  


He was distantly aware of screaming and realised that it was him. Then the pain hit.

  
  


It felt like he was being burned from the inside out while simultaneously being torn apart. 

  
  


A brilliant white light, tinted with the colours of the infinity stones spread blindingly across his vision. It was the final push he needed for his body to be overwhelmed enough to fall into the all to familiar darkness of unconsciousness.

  
  


He never realised that his bond to Tony was still open.

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


"How did we survive?" Peter asked the sorcerer/wizard dude as he leaned slightly into Tony's uninjured side, trying not to aggravate the still healing wounds, his own twinging only lightly thanks to his enhanced healing.

  
  


"I suppose they recognised your soulmate connection." Stephen Strange answered. "There has not been a single selfless user of those stones as you two have been, there was always a selfish ambition even in those who thought they were doing good. You were both thinking of the well being of the world around you rather than yourselves. I would say that the stones even took away most of the remnants of their effect on you as a result." He finished, gesturing to their almost non existent injuries.

  
  


Tony had been left with a severely burned right arm as well as nerve damage but thanks to the superior medical facilities provided by Wakanda he was expected to make a full recovery with only minor residual damage in his arm.

  
  


Peter also had burns and over sensitivity but he had fared much better because of his enhancements.

  
  


"You both are quite lucky to be alive."

  
  


With a glance and a smile to Peter next to him, Tony answered. "Don't I know it, Doc."

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Peter was running across the wasted battlefield, explosions, terror and pain filled shouts following everywhere he went. He ran and ran, eventually coming to a stop just at the crest of a familiar dip in the land.

  
  


He looked down and saw Tony in his Iron Man suit, kneeling with the gauntlet as Thanos stared at him in disbelief.

  
  


"No! Mr. Stark! Wait, please!" He yelled, tears wanting to fall at the thought of losing the man. "Please don't leave me!"

  
  


Peter sped off down the hill, somehow knowing that he wouldn't be in time, that he couldn't save another person who he loved with everything he had.

  
  


While he ran he felt as if the ground was stretching further, keeping him from where he so desperately tried to reach. He could only watch as Tony lifted his hand and snapped, the power and force that burst out flung him back and drove him right through one of the crumbling falls of the old compound. His scream of denial echoing after him.

  
  
  


His surroundings darkened and changed completely, Tony's heart thumping out its last beat as pressure fell over Peter.

  
  


He couldn't move, his body trapped under hundreds of tons of rubble and debris. Peter's breath started speeding up as the realisation set in.

  
  


He was in the warehouse.

  
  


The tears Peter had been holding back started to escape now, streaming down his face. He tried to grip onto the rubble to lift it but his rising panic and tear blurred eyes made it difficult. Each shift of another failed attempt just put more weight on him, pinning him down tighter, and only succeeding in making him struggle harder. His body trembled and shook from fear.

  
  


Peter's movements and attempts at escaping had started becoming more frantic and desperate when he started feeling a tingle crawl up his limbs, similar to the way he felt when his body started to crumble underneath him on that wretched red planet. No! He couldn't do this again! Not dust again please not the dust– 

  
  


"Peter! You're safe, kid, I'm right here." A familiar voice cut through his panic, clearing his mind slightly.

  
  


What he had thought was trembling was actually hands shaking him. Peter tried desperately to ignore the shifting rubble, focusing on the hands he could now feel on his shoulders.

  
  


"Wake up! C'mon Pete, you gotta wake up." He heard Tony's smooth, calming voice and it was what snapped him back fully to consciousness.

  
  


He flinched backwards after he sat up in bed, slamming into his headboard as a cry fell from his lips before he could smother it.

  
  


Peter darted his eyes around, fear and grief still flooding his veins, as he tried to calm his racing heart.

  
  


Tony moved closer to Peter from where the older man was perched carefully on the edge of the bed. "Hey, bud. I'm gonna reach out and hold your hands okay?" He questioned gently with his hands hovering out slightly towards Peter.

  
  


At Peter's choked whimper and nod he carefully pulled his hands towards him, folding them gently in his own. When Peter showed no signs of fright or increased agitation, he very slowly and obviously started smoothing his hands up and down the still slightly trembling arms and shoulders of the still spooked teen.

  
  


Tony looked at Peter carefully, deciding on what to do. "Can I hug you, Tesoro?" He almost didn't notice the pet name slipping out, so used to calling Morgan nicknames.

  
  


Peter nodded weakly. "Please." He whimpered.

  
  


Tony swiftly wrapped his arms around Peter, holding him close and whispering reassurances into his curls.

  
  


"You're okay. I'm right here, I'm not leaving you."

  
  


"You are whole and real, no disappearing or dust, buddy. Thanos is gone, the stones are safe."

  
  


The words carried on until after Peter fell asleep still curled in his arms. Tony shifted down on the bed so that he could lie down comfortably with the spider baby still clinging to him.

  
  


Tony opened his connection a little more than it had been from where he had widened it to sooth Peter. He let out an extra surge of love and calm to the teenager's own bond and smiled when Peter mumbled in his sleep.

  
  


"L've you Mis'r St'k."

  
  


"I love you too Peter, so so much figlio mio."

  
  
  


-

  
  
  


The weeks since Tony had woken Peter from his first nightmare at the lake house seemed to fall into a pattern.

Nightmares either keeping them up or waking them when they did go to sleep. 

  
  


Tony had tried to keep that fact that he also had nightmares and couldn't sleep from Peter. Not because he was ashamed, no, because he didn't want the boy to worry and push down his own troubles to help Tony. Unfortunately for Tony, but not in Peter's opinion, he couldn't hide it forever.

  
  


One afternoon, while Tony and Peter were relaxing in the lounge and Pepper, May, and Morgan were at the shops, the older man finally succumbed to his growing fatigue only to be woken by a nightmare.

  
  


Peter had been upset that his mentor had kept it from him but understood. They spoke about it and they both agreed to reach out when they struggled or just needed to be close because of their bond.

  
  


Both Tony and Peter had begun to dread sleeping, the only relief they could get was when one of them soothed the other through the bond and if they didn't sleep separately after a nightmare.

It was hard but it became normal for them.

  
  
  
  


-

  
  
  


In addition to the pattern that formed with their nightmares, their daily lives soon started to follow one, too.

  
  


The mornings would involve Tony and Peter meeting with Dr. Cho, Stephen Strange, and even Bruce, at times. All had travelled to the house so as not to disturb or aggravate any injuries or calm that had been built. Peter and Tony would be checked over by the two doctors of their respective fields and they would discuss how they were feeling and if they felt any pain even after their injuries had healed completely. The biggest reason as to why this continued for so long was to observe them and see if there were any after effects or problems that were left behind from the radioactivity of the stones.

  
  


The fact that they were both in perfect health was both astounding and cause for celebration in the eyes of the doctors.

  
  


After their morning check ups and discussions, they would have breakfast with Pepper, Morgan, and May (who was staying with the Starks while they figured out if her and Peter were going to move back into their apartment that Tony had Pepper keep an eye on in hopes of their return one day). 

  
  


The conversation around the breakfast table was always changing as well. Some mornings would have Morgan chattering about her favourite movies and kids shows or helping her dad with small things that she could in the lab. On one memorable occasion the bubbly girl had mentioned her favourite superhero, Spider-man. Peter may or may not have shed a couple tears. If asked, he would admit it readily.

  
  


Other mornings were more serious, discussing how their check ups had gone, how the world was handling the billions returned, and the work that SI was doing to aid in charity and relief funds.

  
  


On this particular Tuesday morning, Tony brought up Peter and May's living situation. After a few minutes of talking about different options if they didn't want to return to their apartment, Tony dropped a bombshell on them. "You could always just stay here." He said nonchalantly as he dished another helping of scrambled eggs onto Peter's plate. The stubborn kid needed to keep up with his metabolism better than he had been.

  
  


May blinked at him, dumbfounded. "Well, that would be nice, especially since Tony and Pete are bonded. I don't want to take that away from him."

  
  


"Won't we be intruding though?" She continued before Pepper stepped in.

  
  


"Not at all." She said as she carefully wrangled Morgan into eating some fruit with her breakfast. "We have plenty of room here. You can think about it and if it's something you both are interested in, we can always see about extending the house into two separate homes for us so that you can stay close but still have your space and privacy." Pepper reassured her.

  
  


Nodding along next to his wife, Tony spoke again. "You don't have to worry about a job either. Cho told me this morning that she was interested in hiring you for her team as well as an offering for a position from Pep and I to help with our work loads since we have Morgan, as well as Peter if you stay, and we want more regular hours."

  
  


May's surprised face made them all smile, with Peter and Morgan letting out small giggles too. "Are you sure? I know I haven't been as close to you all, even before the decimation, as Peter is, I don't want to impose or be a bother." May fretted.

  
  


"So that's where you get it from, Pete." Tony laughed lightly before sobering again. "In all honesty, I would love to have you here, May. So would Pepper." He looked at his wife, smiling when she nodded. 

  
  


"We've both loved having you here and getting to know you again." Pepper reached for May's hand across the table. "The decision is completely up to you. I believe you'll also have a lot of pleading, puppy eyes from those two rascals over there." She nodded her head to where Peter and Morgan were sitting next to each other, absolutely beaming.

  
  


"Please, May!" 

  
  


And dammit, who was she to resist Peter's doe eyes in addition to Morgan's?

  
  


"Okay, we can talk about it. Thank you, truly. What you have done for Peter and I honestly means so much to me, to us." May said earnestly when she looked back at Tony and Pepper.

  
  


Tony's response was drowned out by whoops and hollers from Peter and Morgan, but from Tony's smile she could tell that he had thanked her instead, for letting him be in Peter's life, as he had so many times in time they had been staying with them.

  
  


_Tony Stark,_ thought May, _is so much more than people say._

  
  


She saw his eyes light up as he watched Morgan and Peter interact, they way they shone with love.

  
  


_He's more than just a billionaire inventor or a hero, he's a dad._

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  


Peter and May had been living at the lake house for three weeks when Peter's first really bad flashback happened.

  
  


They had all finally settled fully into their daily schedules and patterns as well as doing a few extra things now that May, Pepper, and Tony had organised their work hours to spend more time together as a family and just have more free time in general.

  
  


Morgan and Peter starting a tradition of catching up in the movies that Peter had missed during the last five years was one of those additions. They tried to watch one every evening, sometimes watching two or three if they started early enough before Morgan had to go to bed.

  
  


The adults didn't always join them right away, occasionally busy with a last minute call, paperwork, or a final look over something that one of the lower levelled employees needed confirmation on.

  
  


Tonight was one of those rare nights that all three were caught up at the same time. Although, according to FRIDAY, they were almost finished and just had to tidy their respective offices that had been added to the house when Tony had it remodeled to allow for more space and privacy between the five of them.

  
  


Morgan smiled and thanked FRIDAY when she informed them since Peter's mouth was full with the marshmallows they had snuck with them to the living room to eat while they watched the second Frozen movie, Morgan's choice for her turn. Peter found the sugary snack amusing because of the snow monster that Elsa had created in the first movie.

  
  


He had to admit that although the first one would always be his favourite, he was really enjoying the sequel. He also couldn't help but agree with Morgan when she said she wished that the cute fire lizard was real.

  
  


Everything was fine and he was having fun. Until the scene with Anna and Olaf when he started flaking and scattering on the wind. Then it went to hell.

  
  


Peter felt his breath picking up and like he couldn't move when he first realised what was happening in the movie and he carefully but frantically reached for the marker he always kept on him.

  
  


'Tony,' he wrote with an unsteady, almost numb hand. 'Help.' 

  
  


He felt the marker fall from his hand, the action pushing him right back to Titan, to his body flaking and falling apart just like Olaf's. He felt it happen over and over with no way to stop it.

  
  


His eyes shut tightly with his breath catching in his throat as his airway constricted, Peter never felt someone kneeling down in front of him and taking his hands in theirs, nor did he feel the more delicate ones soothing up and down his back in exactly the rhythm that brought him back to the present.

  
  


He opened his eyes – when did he close them? - and looked at Tony and May, the ones that the hands belonged to, and his body relaxed slightly at the familiar sight of his home and the distant murmur of voices instead of the destroyed, red planet. He still felt as if he was flaking away.

  
  


Still struggling to take full breaths he let out a choked sob and held on tighter to the hands in his, frantically grabbing at them when they shifted but calmed a bit when they didn't let go, only moving to rest on Tony's chest right where his arc reactor used to be. Peter felt a surge from their bond but it just made him think of Titan even more.

  
  


"You're okay, Petey." He registered Tony saying, the soothing voice of May also speaking from next to him.

  
  


Peter frantically shook his head. "Dust!" He cried out.

  
  


"No, Bear, not dust. You're here, you're safe, and you are real." May fiercely, yet gently said. 

  
  


There were footsteps before Pepper sat down on Peter's other side with Morgan on her lap. "Would it be okay to move or do you need to stay here?" She asked him softly. "Morgan has an idea."

  
  


The strange and sudden appearance of the two grounding Peter enough that he could speak past his still tight chest.

  
  


"We c'n m've." He almost slurred out, wincing at the rough sound of his voice before his attention was taken by the careful movements of everyone around him.

  
  


Tony slowly and gently unclasped their hands and hefted Peter into his arms with only a small grunt. He was carried out of the room but he was too taken up by calming down to be embarrassed.

  
  


Peter blinked and they were suddenly in the sun room that was filled with pillows and mattresses. Tony carefully helped him down to lay on the fluffy surface while the others situated themselves around him. The change of position and surroundings brought him back completely although he still felt a bit out of breath.

  
  


Morgan crawled closer to him, resting between him and Tony with Pepper on Tony's other side and May next to Peter. She moved her hand and rested it on his cheek. "You okay, Petey?" She asked softly, concern and love for her honorary brother shining in her eyes.

  
  


Peter let himself bask in that love and care, in the concern and affection from his family curled around him that helped ground him and calm him.

  
  


"Yes, little bug, I'm okay."

  
  
  
  


\---

  
  
  
  


Tony was standing on the front porch, leaning his forearms on the railing while he watched and listened to the buzzing activity from the adults, teens, and children scattered around the yard and dock. 

  
  


He saw Pepper, May, Rhodey, and Happy laughing together as they set the numerous salad bowls down on the massive table that had been set in the middle of the yard, a container filled with bread rolls for the hotdogs and hamburgers that Steve and Sam were cooking set next to the salad.

  
  


His eyes shifted when he heard the tell tale shrieks of laughter that only a child could possess. Letting out a chuckle, he could only shake his head in amusement when he caught sight of what the younger Bartons and Morgan had roped Bucky into. The now entirely brainwash and trigger free, but still gruff man was being pulled on by little hands as he tried to tickle and grab at all of them. 

  
  


There had been a lot of tension and pain between him, Bucky, and Steve but Tony was more than happy that they had truly let themselves heal and get past what had happened in the so called Civil War. Him and Bucky had even become tentative friends, so seeing the man having obvious fun with the little kids of their big, disjointed family brought a genuine smile to his face.

  
  


And speaking of kids… Tony's eyes drifted to Peter where he was laughing and smiling while Shuri jokingly tried to push him off the wooden platform. Tony saw a familiar smirk spread across Peter's face and couldn't contain his laugh when the boy, obviously using his spider powers, fell over backwards but stuck his feet to the dock so he never actually touched the water. The yelp from Shuri as he yanked her with him sending the other teens lounging on the dock with them into peels of laughter.

  
  


The last months had been hard on Peter, on so many people, but seeing him laugh and have fun gave Tony a light and happy feeling that he knew wasn't just shared from his and Peter's bond.

  
  


There had been so many sleepless nights, panic attacks, and flashbacks for both him and Peter. So many fears, and challenges. So much change, but they had overcome all of it, were still overcoming and fighting their worries and hard times.

  
  


Tony had even – after much talking with Pepper, May – hung up the Iron Man suits. He had officially retired from the superhero business and slightly from his work at SI as well in the way of cutting back work hours with Pepper. 

  
  


He could still be called in if it was a world ending situation but he hoped that those were calming down now. He needed to focus on his home, his family.

  
  


Peter had done so much over the last months as well. He'd gone back to school, even briefly started going out as Spider-Man again thanks to Dr. Strange gifting him and Tony devices that let them use portals, similar to the sorcerer's own, which helped with going to and from Queens when Peter had school, patrol, or wanted to hang out with Ned and MJ.

  
  


They had all started healing and getting on with their new lives, with the ways that the world changed and adapted over the last years.

  
  


Tony was brought back by Pepper's voice calling out to him. "The food's ready, can you get all the kids?"

  
  


"On it, Pep!" He answered as he stepped down and walked towards Peter and Morgan, who had darted over to him at some point.

  
  


His arms swung next to him, the writing on the left one catching his eye.

  
  


_'I love you.'_ It said, making him think back to the messy writing that he first read all those years ago in Afghanistan.

  
  


Tony once thought that he didn't have a soulmate, that he wasn't worthy.

  
  


He now knew it was wrong, that he _was_ worthy. The laughter and voices of his family blending together as they all sat to eat simply solidifying the fact.

  
  


He was happy, he was safe, and he was loved.

  
  


He had done what was needed of him, and he had done more. He had always done more.

  
  


And now it was enough, he was enough, for the first time in his life.

  
  


Grabbing a marker from his pocket, he scribbled underneath Peter's own words. 

  
  


_I love you too._

  
  
  
  



End file.
